Hangover Recovery & Reduction | a Nutritionist's Guide

Picture the scene: you’ve just woken up in an unknown place, unsure of the time, day or even year.

You’re hurting from head to toe. You don’t know whether you’ve been mugged, in a wrestling match or mauled by a gorilla.

You have an impending sense of doom (worsened by the fear for your bank balance), your hands are shaking, and a trip to the bathroom is as daunting as scaling Mount Everest.

Welcome to the hangover.

Cheer up. It could be worse. At least you haven’t woken up with a pet tiger, a new face tattoo, or married to someone whose name you don’t know.

Still, a hangover is a hangover, and they’re all dreadful…

But if you ever find yourself in such dire straits, we have your back.

This is the nutritionist’s guide to getting over a hangover.

What exactly is a “hangover”?

First, let’s get to the bottom of what exactly happens to your body after you’ve had a few, and what scientists believe makes the experience of a hangover so bad.

Alcoholic drinks are produced from the fermentation of sugars in grains, fruits, berries, and sometimes other plant or food sources. It’s a drug, but people over the age of 18 in the UK can purchase it legally.

As a drug it acts as a depressant and increases sociability, reduces inhibition and many other decision-making and memory-forming processes in the brain.

Alcohol and humans go back far further than many people realise. Archaeologists have found that our ancestors were drinking as early as the stone age, long before modern humans picked up a pint.¹

It’s important to note that alcohol itself is a toxic substance. It cannot be stored in the body, and if we do not metabolise it quickly and effectively, it can accumulate and cause serious harm.

The byproducts of alcohol breakdown and metabolism are highly reactive and generate what is referred to as “oxidative stress”. This refers to an imbalance between reactive metabolic byproducts and antioxidants. The greater the degree of oxidative stress, the more potential for cell and tissue damage.²

Researchers have found that the greater the oxidative stress, the greater the inflammatory response and the worse a hangover will be.³

A hangover itself is a mixture of general misery. Common symptoms include headache, tiredness, difficulty concentrating, thirst, dizziness, nausea, and mood changes.⁴ I think that’s a list many recognise …

While the exact mechanisms causing these symptoms are not fully known, it’s believed that oxidative stress, inflammation, reduced sleep quality and quantity, and the diuretic properties (it makes you go to the toilet more) of alcohol all contribute. Disrupted routine, age, gender and even genetics are also probable factors.⁴

While some of these are not within our domain of control, some are. So here are a few tips for avoiding and reducing the symptoms of a hangover.

How to avoid a hangover

Aside from the obvious answer of not having anything to drink at all, there are ways you can protect yourself from the worst of a hangover.

First, here are a few things that will likely lead to a worse hangover^3,4:

• Drinking too much
• Drinking too quickly
• You don’t drink very often

Drinking alcohol high in congeners (bourbon, for example). Congeners are substances found in many alcoholic drinks and often come from ingredients and production materials.

So, some good advice is (particularly if you’re someone who doesn’t drink often) to take your time when drinking and know when to stop (we often know when the next drink is one too many, but not having it is another issue).

How much and what we eat can also help reduce the risk of a hangover.

When you have food in your stomach, alcohol takes longer to pass through it and be absorbed. There’s truth to the old parent-to-teenager advice “don’t drink on an empty stomach”.

Meals high in fat, carbohydrates or protein are equally effective in slowing alcohol absorption. The most important factor is whether alcohol is consumed on an empty stomach or together with a meal.⁵

Any meal eaten around the time of alcohol intake can help minimise the risk of a hangover, but a high protein, high fibre meal may also help minimise any unwanted impact on body composition. Snacks like protein bars or protein shakes to more substantial meals — a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, veggie-loaded frittata, or a tofu stir fry — all help to minimise the hangover risk.

Alcohol intake directly affects sleep quality and quantity. The more you drink the more your sleep will be affected. It’s also worth pointing out that a night out often involves staying up later than usual anyway.

On this matter, you want to focus on getting the best sleep possible. Do your best to go to bed at a reasonable hour and make sure you sleep somewhere sensible, ideally a dark, quiet room that’s not too warm and not too cold (maybe keep a window open).

Before you go to sleep though, you’ll want to get a head start on rehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic and causes an increase in fluid and electrolyte loss. If you don’t hydrate properly, the next day you may experience dehydration symptoms like dry mouth/tongue, thirst, headache, lethargy, fatigue, dry skin, muscle weakness, light-headedness, dizziness and a lack of focus.6 Basically a hangover, right?

It’s recommended you consume several cups of water before bedtime, preferably with an electrolyte tab to aid rehydration. Of course, you don’t want to drink so much that you’re up again during the night. Rehydration will need to carry on in the morning and beyond, so keep a glass of water by your bedside.

While there is little existing evidence supporting anti-inflammatory hangover treatments, I find dissolving some vitamin C in water and a few omega-3 capsules help ease my symptoms in the morning.

The next day, try as best you can to stick to your usual routine, particularly mealtimes and bedtime. If you don’t, disrupted blood sugars may lead to irritability, fatigue, low mood and increased “junk food” cravings. Alcohol itself alters blood sugar regulation 7, as does poor sleep, so it’s better not to compound these issues for any longer than necessary.